Teddy Lupin: Metamorphmagus Extroirdinaire
by SlytherinsScribe
Summary: Teddy Lupin had an odd fifth year at Hogwarts, and because he isn't allowed to tell anyone, he has written it down in hope of eventually feeling safe to let someone read it. Teddy's story of one eventful year. COMPLETE as of 9/11/2009
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, if I did, I would not be writing fanfiction.

**Prologue**

My name is Ted Remus Lupin, though everyone calls me Teddy. I was born in 1997 in the midst of one of the largest wizarding wars of the century in which my godfather, Harry Potter, defeated Lord Voldemort. My father, Remus Lupin, and mother, Nymphadora, died in the final battle when I wasn't even a year old. My grandmother, Andromeda Tonks died five years later, and I've been living with my godfather ever since.

My dad is said to have been a brave man, living in a world where he was shunned for being a werewolf. He was a Marauder, along with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, a traitor. He was also a part of the Order of the Phoenix, a group against Voldemort in the war. That's where he met mom.

She hated her name, and was called Tonks by everyone. She was the clumsiest auror alive, tripping over everything. She was a metamorphmagus, meaning she could change her appearance, and I got that ability too. She was also a full thirteen years younger than dad, which was one of the reasons he was reluctant to date her, too old, too poor, too dangerous. Yet, despite all odds, I was born just to be orphaned.

Here I am today, fifteen years old, dating Victoire Weasley, avoiding the numerous other Weasleys at school and young James Potter so they don't write home saying I'm snogging her. I'm the prince of Gryffindor, and have lead us to victory in Quidditch the last three years as a Chaser. My friends and me are considered the Marauders of the new century, yet we still ace all of our classes and I'm breezing my way to an easy last two years until I join the auror training program that I've already been scouted for, and me and Victoire will marry as soon as she finishes school.

…Okay, that last paragraph is a lie. A complete and total lie. But hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

Truth is, fifth year was both my best and worst year so far. Everything got continually worse until finally I had a stroke of good luck, and guess what. I can't even tell anyone. Hopefully I can let someone read this someday, I'm sure Harry would get a kick out of it.

(To be continued)


	2. The Truth Revealed

As much as I'd like to briefly describe every small event that led to the beginning of fifth year being bad, that would take far too long. So, I'll just recount a conversation I had with my best friend during a free period in early November, well, as well as I can remember it.

I had been sitting under the willow tree when Curtis Aldenmeyer sat next to me, "Your hair's brown again. Bad day?"

I looked at him sadly, "Yeah,"

"Still thinking about Victoire?" I nodded in reply, "It's okay, everyone get's dumped."

"She didn't dump me," I said defensively, "We both agreed it was in neither of our best interests to continue seeing each other."

"Really?" Curtis asked, amused, "Is that why she called you an annoying Hufflepuff, and then started snogging Perin Disbury?"

I glared at him, "You aren't helping."

"Did you at least make the late tryouts from Stanley breaking his arm?"

"No, Erin got the spot."

"Isn't Erin that second year who weighs less than a hundred pounds?"

"…yes."

"And she got picked over you?"

"Yeah,"

"You must really suck,"

"You're a terrible friend."

"I'm a Slitherin, I don't have to be." Curtis smirked before changing the subject, "So, when are you supposed to get the results for the Early Auror Testing?"

"This morning." Teddy replied, thinking about the letter folded up in his pocket, "Apparently, my scores aren't even high enough to skip sixth year like aurors are supposed to."

"Oh, and have you talked to Flitwick about joining the after school protection program he has set up for the Spring?"

"I'm going to after classes end, but I'm not sure he'll let me with my grades in potions and transfiguration." I answered, because of homework I was barely keeping up in those classes as I tried to study for the end of year Auror exam as well. It was getting a little overwhelming.

"Well, I have to go talk to Meri, but tell me how it goes tomorrow," Curtis said, "See you tomorrow."

"Bye," I said, realizing once again that my life was too cluttered at the moment. I began making my way to herbology, hoping the Ravenclaws had magically forgotten my um… statement of dislike to the personal opinion of Professor Adrian Pucey, our Defense Professor who used to play on the Slitherin Quidditch team. He started badmouthing werewolves the day before and I, er, lost it. I now have detention four hours every Saturday for the next two months.

Herbology is one of the easier classes for me, and thankfully no one talked about me yelling at a Professor the day before, and the class was over quickly. Professor Sprout's assistant, Neville Longbottom, said hello as I left to go talk to Flitwick, who was in charge of the Protection Program for those who want to get a head start on Auror training. He was waiting for me in his classroom. I took a deep breath, "Good afternoon, Professor,"

"And good afternoon to you to," He said, though his smile was faltering, "You want in the Pre-Auror program, don't you?"

"Yes, you said there were a few spots open this morning," I had said hopefully.

"Yes, there are spots open, just not for you."

I blanched, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"This program is for those who are interested in becoming Aurors, are dependable, magically strong and on top of their classes," Flitwick explained, "And while you are the first three, you are almost failing two of your classes, and the quality of your work has dropped."

"I know, but I've been studying for the trials-"

"Which you won't be allowed to take if you aren't doing well in your classes." Flitwick interjected, "My suggestion is that since you aren't playing quidditch and don't have a girlfriend, you focus on your studies for these three years, and enter the Auror program when you finish school."

"What if I get my grades up before the Spring? Could I join then?" I tried, but Flitwick was already shaking his head.

"I'm sorry Teddy, but you just don't have the skills that this program demands." Flitwick said with a true sadness, "My answer isn't going to change, I suggest you get started on improving your grades."

I'm not sure what I was thinking at that minute, but I remember throwing my book bag over my shoulder and walking out without saying another word, and I skipped going to dinner. I went to my dorm and actually finished my homework, including the potions essay that Professor Spinnet (Yes, Alicia Spinnit is the new potions professor). In some trance I walked down to her office, putting the essay in front of her office door before going out the front door of the school back to the willow tree before dinner was over.

I didn't know at the time that I had been seen by Jenna Wood, Oliver's daughter, who had quickly offered her friendship to on the train. We don't talk often, but she had assumed a caretaker role over me, much like that of an aunt. She found me after I had flopped down in the grass with my eyes closed, "That's four."

I opened one eye, "Four what?"

"Night in a row you've skipped dinner." Her voice was firm.

"I've been a little preoccupied."

"I've noticed, but I don't think things will get better just because you starve yourself."

I closed my eye again, "I don't, I just find wallowing in self pity to be more entertaining than watching everyone around me live happily."

"I know what your problem is," She said matter of factly, sitting next to me.

"Oh, and what would that be?" I said sitting up to look her in the eye.

"You don't know who you are," She said simply, "You've spent your whole life being called Teddy Lupin: Son of Remus and Tonks Lupin. Everyone, you included, expects you to be someone you aren't, and it's killing you."

"What are you talking about?"

"You have this vision of yourself as the son of two war heroes, and that's why you try so hard to become an auror, and I don't know about anyone else, but I can't see you being like that. It's just not you."

"Then who am I, if you know everything?" I asked her, a cruel question when she was just trying to help me.

"You aren't affiliated with your parents to me. You're the Teddy I met five years ago, when we were first years, that when I went to shake his hand, gave himself the same color hair I did," She said softly, "Teddy Lupin: Metamorphmagus Extroirdinaire."

"That was a long time ago," I said, which was pretty rude considering the tone of admiration she had used when talking about me.

"Back when you were you," She replied and then stood, "I'm going to go before I get caught out after curfew, but I have something to say first. If you're going to act like your parents, find out more than just war stories about them. Associate with who they actually were, maybe then you'll realize who you are. Goodnight."

I watched her walk away, not sure whether to feel insulted or not. I decided not. I had barely eaten the last few days because of stress, and sleep wasn't coming easy. I felt terrible and alone because of my recent break up, and because even though Harry and Ginny tried, I was always knew I wasn't really their son. And I was frustrated, because I knew that deep down, there was some truth in what Jenna said. I laid back down, "I don't get to hear the other side of my parents, no one wants me to think badly of them. The only way to know who they really were would be to meet them."


	3. Unexplained Help

"The only way to know who they really were would be to meet them." I mumbled, knowing that the entire notion was impossible.

"That can be arranged." A female voice said from behind me.

Now, seeing that I thought I was alone, I'm pretty sure I did one of the comical jumps where one second I was lying on the ground and the next I was standing with my wand pointed at… nothing. My first thought was that Jenna was right, I was hallucinating due to lack of sleep and hunger. Then he realized she was just hidden in the shadows of the forest, a girl about his age, with bright yellow-green eyes and wild hair that if it was sunny would be brown with a blood red undertone. Her clothes were a faded black and hung loosely on her shoulders. Teddy lowered his wand, "You're a hag."

She smiled, "Not a particularly favorable title, but yes, I'm a hag."

Hags are very much like witches, only more… inconspicuous I guess. They use a different kind of magic too, more like house elf magic than wizard. While they have few regulations on their magic by law, they often have strict morals as to how they use their magic. They are also rumored to eat children, but you never know what to believe these days. Teddy put his wand away, knowing it was useless in a fight against her, "What are you doing here?"

"Hags live on the innocence of children," She answered simply, "Some choose to take it in by digestion, however, I prefer to simply come her a few days a year. It's healthier and doesn't age you. You'd never guess I was almost sixty."

No, no I wouldn't, she looked to be in her late teens, maybe in her twenties. She was walking closer too, "So, if you don't eat people, why are you talking to me?"

"I've been watching you, and you've caught my interest." She stopped a few feet in front of me, "And like I said, I can arrange for you to meet your parents. Hag-magic doesn't work like your magic does."

"What are you talking about, my parents are dead."

"Yes, they are now, but where you're going, they're alive. Perhaps when is more accurate." She said fumbling with a chain she had taken from her pocket, and a small pendant, "You see, I met your mother, she saved my life on her first mission as an auror. I feel obligated to return the favor by saving your life."

"I'm not dying," I tried to argue.

"Your friend there is wise, she was right when she said you're killing yourself. There, done," She said holding up the chain with an amber snowflake pendent, "The more well-known hags have symbols like this that we send with those who are on missions. This will take you where you need to be, tell your mother you were sent by Frost the Snow-Hag and when you have found yourself, it will bring you back. If I were you, I'd change your appearance as well. Good luck."

"Wait, I don't even know where you're sending me," I had tried to dodge, but she already had thrown the necklace over my head, and I felt the world fall apart around me. Everywhere around me turned black, and then I fell what was probably just a few feet onto hard concrete. I blinked a few times, waiting for the world to come back to me, for me to find myself back under the willow tree by the lake. When my eyes finally cleared, I wasn't by the lake, I wasn't even at Hogwarts anymore.

From what I could tell, I was in the back of an alley way, thankfully one of the cleaner ones. I stood up and walked to the opening of the alley and looked out, it was a vaguely familiar residential street in London, I could tell that much. I was still frazzled as to why some crazy hag had sent me to London in the middle of the school year.

I figured I might as well find out where in London I was, and as I turned the corner I saw the sign: Grimauld Place. My heart nearly stopped, not because I was near one of my godfather's homes, but because I saw Kingsley Shacklebolt on his way into Grimauld Place. I quickly retreated into the alleyway, I was dead if he saw me here. Then I realized there was something wrong, Kingsley looked younger, a lot younger. I paled remembering the hag's words.

_Perhaps when is more accurate._

Suddenly, everything made sense, she had sent me back in time to meet my parents. I just didn't know how far back in time.


	4. Andy Rutherford Emerges

(A/N: If I change POV from first to third, I'm sorry. This is all meant to be from Teddy's point of view, but I'm not practiced at writing in first person.)

-

Now, when you find out some creepy hag has sent you back in time, it's difficult to decide what to do. My choice was to panic with no thought in particular going through my head, just a mantra of expletives. After a couple of minutes I regained the ability to think clearly and realized there was a lot of things to establish about the situation, so I'll write down the mental process I followed:

**What: **I had been sent back in time to meet my parents and get to know them in order to better know myself.

**Where:** Number 12 Grimmauld Place in London.

**When:** No idea, come on, think. The only reason I would be sent here is if mom and dad are here, if Kingsley is also here, that must mean that the Order of Phoenix is using it as Headquarters during the second war. Therefore, it has to be between winter of 1994 and summer of 1996. It was definitely summer, I was almost dying wearing the jeans and black long sleeved shirt I had been transported there in. So, probably summer of 1995 - two years before I was born.

**Who: **Well, it's not like I could go around calling myself Teddy Lupin, which meant I needed an alias. I went through the short list of nicknames I had: Ted, Teddy, Rem Jr. (only used by Ginny when she wanted to annoy me). I instantly threw the whole list out. After a moment I had come up with a name that while it wasn't perfect, was something I could respond to and was believable as a name: Andy. It came from third year when me and my friends had gotten the whole school to play a trick on Professor Spinnet during her first year teaching when we called everyone by their grandparents' name for two weeks straight in the class, and would only respond to that. I picked Andy after grandma Andromeda.

Now for the last name, something that didn't sound bad with the name, but wasn't too perfect. I remembered the name of a first year this year who's name was Rutherford. I thought it was one of the oddest names, and he claimed he was named after the nineteenth President of the United States because his date was American and extremely patriotic. Anyway, Andy Rutherford was the name I decided on, though it took more thought than that.

**Why:** Why would Andy Rutherford need to be in the Order of the Phoenix headquarters? This took me a good half hour of bouncing ideas of an imaginary wall. I'll just skip telling my more insane ideas and get to the one I finally settled on. A reporter from America that had caught wind of a war beginning in London that the Ministry refused to acknowledge. I would ask to spend time working alongside them, find undeniable proof that there is a war, and write a piece on the war for paper in America to try to get the word out, the paper called the U.S. Weekly Wizard (a paper that started in 1973). At least, that's what I'd say I was doing.

From this point on I would be Andy Rutherford, reporter for the U.S. Weekly Wizard.

It was at just this point I realized that I should change my appearance and keep it that way during my entire stay. I change my appearance a lot, at least weekly. This just meant I had to be really happy with how I looked. I thought of my idea of a younger reporter (I had a knack for looking either within a couple years of my own age, or ancient), and ran with it, somehow making myself look like a young James Bond from the muggle movies. As a metamorphmagus who has spent too much time playing pranks by changing into other people, I always have a mirror with me and used it to change the shade of hair and eyes to look more natural. The eyes turned out to be a dark blue, and the hair was a dark brown with a hint of red in it. It definitely made you second guess the Bond look-alike.

I hesitated doing magic outside of school, but realized they couldn't get me in trouble if I hadn't been born yet. I transfigured my jeans into a pair of loose khakis and made my shirt a blue t-shirt, which felt a lot cooler. I straightened out the story in my head and noticed the sun was getting low, so headed out of the alley and began hoping an Order member would be walking about. I was lucky enough to find three. I took a deep breath and went for it.

"Excuse me," I said, and they turned to me, "Are you members of the Order of the Phoenix?"

Six eyes stared at me, unsettled by my knowledge, and the oldest looked me in the eye, "Why do you want to know?"


	5. Meeting the Order

The three of them stood there waiting for an answer. Mad-Eye Moody was the oldest of them, and his magical eye was, as I'd always heard but never really believed, moving on it's own accord. His face was twisted into the same frown I'd seen in every picture of him. Next was Sturgis Podmore, someone I knew very little more than his name and face. The last took me a minute, but I realized it was mom. I'd only seen pictures of her with her bubble-gum pink hair, and one when she had a mousy appearance when dad was refusing to be with her. At the moment she had short blonde hair, the kind that might have had her mistaken for a Malfoy.

"How do you know about the Order anyway?" Sturgis asked skeptically.

I had gotten a little caught up in my own thoughts and forgot to answer, "I've done my research, sir. I'm a reporter for the U.S. Weekly Wizard, I'm supposed to find out all I can about the war going on."

Moody didn't look impressed, "A reporter? How old are you?"

"Seventeen, sir. Almost eighteen." I wasn't going to try to pass myself for any older.

"Well, what do you want?" Sturgis asked, I had briefly wondered why my mom hadn't talked, but she was only about a month into her first year as an auror.

"I was hoping to stay with the Order for a few months, and have enough material to go back to the U.S. and convince the world there's a war going on here, since your government won't even admit it."

"And you believe it?" Mom asked, ignoring the glare from Moody.

"Didn't Cedric die? Harry Potter's the only witness, and I doubt he'd lie about something like that." I said, hoping they would believe me.

"We aren't looking to house reporters, if you knew anything about the Order, you'd know we don't take kindly to reporters." Moody growled and started to walk away, and something in my head wouldn't let him do that.

I stepped in his path, "I know you don't kindly to reporters who lie, and twist quotes and generally make the public hate you and your organization because they're ignorant to the truth. I, on the other hand, know the purpose of the Order, and believe in it's cause, and would be willing to fight. And I do know about the Order. The headquarters are Number 12 Grimauld Place and are under a fidelius charm with Albus Dumbledore as the keeper. The house is owned by Sirius Black, who didn't kill the muggles or betray the Potters and is currently residing there. I know that all but the three oldest Weasley children are currently there, as is a Ms. Hermione Granger, and that several members will be retrieving Harry potter from his relatives in early August. I know what I'm getting myself into."

Moody and Sturgis were both glaring at me, but mom had an odd look on her face. Moody took a deep breath, "As impressive as that is, we can't-"

"Moody, wait a minute," mom said walking up to me and grabbed the pendant the hag gave me, "Where did you get this?"

"It was given to me by a hag, Frost the sno-hag." I answered, remembering that Frost had mentioned something about my mom recognizing it.

"Why exactly does this matter?" Sturgis asked, a weary look on his face.

"It matters because this means we're at least going to bring this up to Dumbledore and see what we can do for him." She said looking Moody in the eyes, "If Frost gave him a pendant, it means he's on a quest and backed by her, and Frost is one of the few hags that can tell if someone's loyalties lie with the dark, if he's holding that, he will be true to his word, be here a few months, and then be gone. What can it hurt?"

Moody didn't say a word for what felt like ages, then sighed, "Fine, we'll bring it up to the Order tonight, but I don't promise anything."

The two men left, but mom stayed behind for a minute, "There's a café on the next block, I'll meet you there around noon tomorrow and tell you the verdict. And no matter which way it goes, I want talk to you about how you came across Frost. See you tomorrow."

"See you," I said, not believing that they were actually considering letting me join the Order, well, sort of. And I had actually met my mom and was meeting her tomorrow and we were going to chat. I smiled and made my way down the street to a place Harry told me about, a Wizard secondhand store, where they sold muggle clothes and a night's rest to travelers. It wasn't great, but it was a good start.


	6. Family Reunted Sort of

The next day I waited for mom in the coffee shop, she arrived three minutes late, but I wasn't too concerned. Especially since she hadn't come alone, she had actually brought my dad. She smiled when she saw me and led dad over, "Sorry we're late, the Order insisted that I not come alone. I also realized that we hadn't asked you your name."

"Andy Rutherford," I replied, smiling.

"Well, you can call me Tonks," She said, and then motioned to dad, "And this is Remus."

Dad looked a lot wearier than he had in the photos, but seemed to be fine other than that. We shook hands, and they sat down, and we all ordered something to drink. I was just happy to finally meet my parents, though a little upset that I couldn't tell them who I was. We were soon settled and mom was first to talk, "Well, I convinced them to allow you to stay with the Order, on the condition that you join the Order and don't leave the house without an Order member until you return to America."

"I'm still not sure why they agreed to it," Dad mumbled.

Mom rolled her eyes, "Don't mind him, he's just moody because the full moon was three days ago."

"Tonks, he doesn't know-"

"About your 'furry little problem'?" I said remembering stories of what the Marauders used to call it, and dad eyed me suspiciously, "I researched all of the people thought to be members of the Order before coming. You were changed by Fenrir, correct?"

Dad nodded, but didn't say anything, which made me worry that I was being a little too knowledgeable. Mom didn't seem bothered though, "So, do you think you can live with the arrangement I mentioned earlier?"

"Of course, though I don't think I will be able to give warning when I have to leave," I said, ghosting my hand over the snow-hag's pendent, and mom nodded in understanding.

"When your mission is don, it's done." Mom assured me, "Did she even tell you what it was?"

"Not really, she kept everything very vague." I replied.

"She did for mine as well, though apparently she and the ministry shared an enemy, and she made it more or less my fate to make the kill." Mom looked away for a second then the smile returned to her face, "She just handed me her pendent and gave a few words of advice and sent me on my way. I think I needed the push she gave me though, I was having trouble dealing with the fact that I would probably be killing people."

I hadn't expected that, an Auror all of the way through training, yet still hesitant to kill? Well, it's not like it's easy to rationalize the taking of a life, even if it is for the greater good. I nodded in sympathy as I prepared to lie to her face, "I was having trouble with my work, Frost just showed up, told me to go to the Order, and sent me here. Thankfully I have an interest in revealing the war, so I could at least guess what I was supposed to do."

"You said you're from America?" Dad asked, scrutinizing me.

"Yeah,"

"Then why do you have an English accent?"

I had realized where he was going, "Technically, I'm from London. I was born here, but during the war against You-Know-Who my parents took me to America to avoid the war altogether. So, I've been surrounded by the accent my whole life." Okay, it was only bit of a lie.

Dad was apparently satisfied with the answer and mom was rolling her eyes at him, "Come on Remus, just give him the letter."

Dad reached into his pocket and grabbed a slightly crumpled envelope and handed it to me. I opened it, all too aware that they were watching me, and pulled out the letter, unfolding it and read:

_I, Albus Dumbledore, welcome you to Number 12 Grimmauld Place._

I was lucky they hadn't known my name when it was written, because if it said Andy Rutherford, I don't think I would have gotten past the fidelius charm. I returned the letter to the envelope and looked up at Dad, "Am I supposed to destroy the letter?"

"That would be best," He replied, and all three of us checked the muggle shop. There was an elderly lady on the other side of the shop, and we had two walls by our booth, and I couldn't be seen from the window. I turned sideways in the seat to make it harder to see what exactly I was doing. I put the letter in my right hand, and quietly muttered a charm for wandless fire that Flitwick had taught me last year. He was a great teacher, though he would probably have to retire soon. Even with Goblin ancestry, he was nearly a hundred and fifty and would die of old age sooner or later.

The letter went up in flames that quickly died down to nothing. My parents looked mildly impressed, and mom smiled, "Well, I suggest we go back to headquarters, do you have your things?"

"Shrunken and in my pocket," I assured her, and the three of us left the café.


	7. Snape Ruins the Occasion

The walk to Grimmauld Place was tense, since mom obviously trusted me, and dad had his suspicions. I had also realized that I was perhaps taking for granted what the phrase 'I did my research' could cover. Walking back to Grimmauld I finally saw the old ominous building conspicuously set between the lighter colored muggle houses. They walked me to the door, and pulled it open, and the door led to a dark hallway that I vaguely remembered from my visit there several years before when I had asked Harry about the Order, and he had brought me here, and we sat at the dusty dining room table talking for hours. This time, it was far less dusty and felt liked it was a lived in place. Dad led the way down the hall, and mom followed behind me as we made our way to the dining room.

A sharp thump sounded behind me, "Dammit!" Mom mumbled.

"What happened?" Dad said looking around me in the narrow hallway to see if she was alright.

"Tripped over the umbrella stand," She said, standing and continuing with a slight limp, "I'm fine," Her hair had changed from the ordinary color it was in the coffee shop to the infamous bubble-gum pink color.

Dad began heading back down the hall, finally opening the door on the end, that from experience, I knew was the main dining room. From the amount of noise coming from the door, I knew the room was probably full, perhaps in the middle of a meeting. Sure enough, the entire table was full of faces, most of them I had only seen in pictures, like Snape, and Sirius, and Albus Dumbledore. The room quieted when they saw me, a few didn't seem upset, but many (Snape being an excellent example) seemed to have advocated against me being allowed and were displeased that I was now among them. Mom didn't seem too discouraged.

"Everyone, this is Andy Rutherford. He's the reporter that will be staying with us for a while, and joining the Order." Mom announced, and I nervously gave a weak wave, not sure what exactly I was supposed to do. After all, it wasn't everyday you're introduced to a room full of people who didn't want you there in the first place who happen to be very good duelists.

Snape turned to Dumbledore, "I still don't understand why you allowed him in here, we've had bad enough experience with our own reporters, why bring in a new one? Especially when we're trusting that he's on our side simply because he's wearing a necklace."

"Severus, that necklace _is_ pendant from one of the most well known hag's in the world, and a friend of mine as well." Dumbledore said in an annoyingly gentle voice, and I had thought all this time Harry was kidding when he said it was nearly impossible to see Dumbledore raise his voice, "Also, he wants to reveal the war to the world, and may just get the Order extra support that we could definitely use."

"And Snivellous," Sirius said, "It's my house, and I say he stays."

Snape glared at his long time enemy, "You're only saying that because you want to disagree with me."

"That's part of it," Sirius admitted, "But he also believes that I'm innocent, and Dumbledore trusts him, both of which I find to be good reason to let him stay."

Snape stood from his seat and left the room. Dumbledore looked at me sympathetically, "I'm sorry, it's just that Severus is-"

"Snape is Snape, I've definitely heard stories, sir. I wasn't expecting any sort of warm welcome here, much less for the infamous potions master." I assured him.

Dumbledore gave him a funny look, which quickly returned to a small smile, "At least you prepared yourself. Now, the entire Order isn't here, but let's get you started on knowing everyone's name."

Moody and Sturgis were familiar faces, though more welcoming than they had been the day before. Kingsley seemed shocked that I knew his name, but shook my hand in a professional manner. Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones just seemed happy to have a new face around. Minerva was introduced as a transfiguration professor, and I was forced to admit that transfiguration had never been my strong suit. Elphias Doge seemed to be on Snape's side, but for his alliance with Dumbledore, he kept his mouth shut. Dedalus Diggle was eager to meet me, reminding me of Harry's opinion of him, and I humored the man. Sirius Black was introduced, and I was asked as to why I believed he was innocent. I said I scraped up some evidence, and preferred no to share my sources, thankfully avoiding further questions.

Next came the Weasleys, Arthur seemed to accept me grudgingly, while Bill happily welcomed me into the Order, and Molly simply said she didn't think someone as young as me should be allowed to die for the cause. After a moment she came and shooed me out of the room, "Come on, I'll show you the room you'll be staying in. Sorry that it's so close to the children."

She led me past a few rooms where I could hear voices, presumably the kids, most of which I did know, into a small room at the end of the hall. It was a light blue room, simpl furniture, and had a thin layer of dust over everything. Molly, who had been like a second grandmother to me stood there looking uncomfortable, "Well, get settled. I'll send someone up when dinner's ready."

-

(A/N: Thank you all for the reviews I've been getting! Also, for those who wish to participate and have the time, I'll have a poll on my profile page until 08/08/09, so please participate!)


	8. Pop Quizes

I did a couple small things, put my trunk (once again at it's full size) at the foot of the bed, tried to make myself happy with my hair without much luck (I'm a metamorphmagus, there's a reason we can change our appearance), and then tried to calm my nerves after realizing that being in the company of so many people I know without saying something foolish was going to be harder than I thought. I was just glad that Harry wasn't there yet, I don't think I would have handled that well on day two. Yes, he treated me like a son, but he was more like an uncle. If he was my dad, I would never have gotten away with half the things I did as a kid. Anyway, having someone that close to me would throw me off a bit at this point.

"Only one of you needs to- Oh, forget it." I heard Molly call from downstairs as a stampede of footsteps came closer to the room, and then a series of knocking at the door. I guessed I was being called down for dinner.

When I opened the door, I saw five of what Molly would call the kids: George, Fred, Ginny, Ron and Hermione. Now, Fred is the only one I didn't know, him being dead made that a little difficult. However, George was a close friend of mine, he and Ron were the only Weasleys I called Uncle, and Ginny I called an Aunt. Well, a lot of people called Ginny Aunt, she has nine biological nieces and nephews, and then there's me and Luna's twin boys, Lorcan and Lysander. Hermione, though I don't know what she was like at this point in time, I know is extremely intelligent and somehow manages to keep her son and daughter under control while studying law at the same time(she works in Magical law enforcement, but is interested in being an attorney as well).

"So, you're Andy Rutherford?" Ron, I could see he still didn't like reporters after Rita Skeeter, but was interested in me as the newcomer.

"Yes, and I assume that the four of you are some of the infamous Weasleys." I said, and while they nodded, the twins shared a look that I knew well. I made a note to watch out in case they decided to carry out whatever plan they were making.

"How long are you staying here?" Ginny asked, not in the most polite way.

"I'm not sure, might be a couple weeks, may be a few months." I answered, I hated giving it though, especially when none of them seemed to really trust me.

"If you're here to harass Harry, leave now. That's the last thing he needs." It was Hermione who spoke, and I was dumbfounded for a second at how blunt she was being. However, it made sense that they would believe I was another Rita Skeeter.

"First of all, Harry isn't even here yet," I said, it was only the twenty-eighth after all, "Secondly, I'm not here to research an article on him. I'm doing an article on the war, and I agree with you, Harry doesn't need to be harassed by reporters. I would be an idiot to come here to do that, especially after what you did to Skeeter."

Hermione smiled at the memory of trapping the annoying, lying reporter in her animagus form. They all seemed a little more at ease, but were a little weary of my intentions. George was kind enough to stop the interrogation, "We came to tell you dinner's ready."

"Sorry it turned into an accusation," Fred added and the five made enough room for me to leave the room and follow them back down to the dining room. Several members of the Order were missing, and I was told they had gone on a mission, and would likely be back in the next few days so they could plan the retrieval of Harry. They shuffled around seating, leaving me sitting between mom (who was entertaining Hermione and Ginny by changing her appearance, something I was just itching to do by now) and Sirius Black who was stopping those adverse to me being there from sitting next to me. One of said adverse people was dad, who sat across the table from mom to keep an eye on me. Dumbledore sat a few seats down from dad, and decided to ask a few questions of me.

The first was where I lived in the U.S., I easily answered on the outskirts of Chicago, there the newspaper I was supposedly from was made. He asked about where I grew up, I answered that it was Northern Illinois, and then where I went to school. I had thought that question would come up, and so had been thinking of an answer. The Great Lakes Wizarding Academy was the only school I knew of in America, and was thankfully in the general area that I was claiming to live. He asked a few general questions after that, which I don't remember too clearly. What do you expect, I'm writing this almost four months after this conversation happened.

After dinner, I listened to the recount of several people who were involved with the tri-wizard tournament a few months before and the account of Voldemort getting a new body, remembering to call him you-know-who until I was told to call him Voldemort, than saying it with a little difficulty. I had never called him you-know-who, but I wasn't stupid enough to pretend the name didn't mean anything when I was claiming to have been taught to fear the name. After a while, I said that I was still adjusting to the time changed and excused myself to go to bed, only to hear my dad talking in the hall with someone, so I listened in.

"I know you trust him, and a few others do, but he keeps on saying things that he shouldn't know. I'm concerned." Dad was telling someone.

"I noticed it too, and while it may be odd, I have no reason not to trust him." Dumbledore replied, "As for now, I wouldn't worry about it."

"But Dumbledore, he knew something that James had said back in Hogwarts when he wasn't even born. There's something wrong here."

"I assure you Remus, if there is a problem, I will take care of it. Now I suggest you get some sleep." I heard the front door close as Dumbledore left.

I walked through the hall, saying goodnight to dad as I passed, and he acknowledged that I was there, but didn't actually say anything. I sighed as I got to my room and closed the door behind me, hoping that Dumbledore found no reason to kick me out.

-

(A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, I've been busy.)


	9. Dumbledore Knows

The next week was fairly uneventful, I mainly talked with all the members of the Order, using what I knew of them to be friends with those I was friends with in my own time. By the fifth of August, I was good friends with Kingsley, Arthur, Molly, Dedalus Diggle and Moody and I were on somewhat friendly terms. The twins, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had become friendlier once realizing I meant no harm to anyone that would be staying at head quarters. Sirius was too busy making the house livable to really talk much, but then, that's what most of us were doing. Mom and dad were on a spying mission the last few days, so I hadn't really seen them since arriving, and Dumbledore was absent.

Until the fifth anyway, I only know it was the fifth because it was the night before the 'Big Harry Rescue' as those who weren't in the Order called it. The Order just called it getting Harry from his relatives. And of course, there were plans being made that night about the exact plan of action and who all would be involved. Which meant most of us were banned to the upstairs for the evening, and were playing a lovely game of exploding snap when Dumbledore appeared at the door. He looked me in the eye, "Mr. Rutherford, I was hoping to have a word with you."

I stood and said that I'd go with him, from his tone I didn't really have a choice. He led me to a side room that I had helped clean out just a few days before, and I had a suddenly bad feeling when he used both a locking and silencing charm on the room. I gave him what I'm sure was a funny look, "Sir, may I ask why that was necessary?"

"You aren't who you're claiming to be. Some of the things you have done or said have concerned me and other members of the Order, so I did some research. And I found some interesting things." Dumbledore said in a way that was bad news for me, "There was no record of the birth of a Rutherford seventeen years ago in London like you claimed. Also, no record of Rutherfords living in the magical community in Illinois, or moving to muggle Illinois that coincides with your story. Yet, I knew it was possible that records had just been misplaced. However, when you said you went to the Great Lakes Wizarding Academy. Construction on the school was just finished last fall, they haven't had any students yet."

As you can imagine, there was a stream of colorful phrases running through my head. I tried to think of some clever excuse, but I knew that what I said now couldn't change what Dumbledore already knew: I wasn't Andy Rutherford, and I had been lying since I got here. I sighed, "So, what are you going to do to me?"

"We'll see," Dumbledore said, "But I would like to know a few things, who are you and where are you from?"

I took a deep breath, "Well, I'm from London. I just… I technically haven't been born yet."

Dumbledore nodded, "I thought that might be the case, you know more than you should. Now, who are you? I won't tell anyone unless it's necessary."

"Teddy Lupin," I said, and I saw him look at me questioningly, "Remus is my dad, and Tonks is my mom."

I think Dumbledore was a little thrown off by that, I mean, Tonks didn't really fall for Remus for another five or six months from what I was told. After he got over the shock, he asked, "So, why are you here?"

"Well, Frost the snow-hag sent me back in time." I said, hoping he would let me get away with that answer. He just kept staring at me waiting for the rest of the answer, "Alright, Remus and Tonks kind of… are dead in my time. I've been having trouble lately and everyone seems to think the answer is getting to know my parents."

Dumbledore seemed to be trying to tell if I was lying, and finally decided it was the truth, "How did they die?"

I hesitated, "I think it's better if I don't tell you, the less of the future I tell you, the better."

Dumbledore nodded, "If you think it's better that way, I'll respect that. Now come on, we would like to use you to help get Harry from his relatives. You've probably met him in your own time."

"He's my godfather," I told Dumbledore, and he smiled and undid the earlier charms and led me down stairs to the dining room where the meeting was being held. Everyone was sitting around the table and I ended up sitting next to Dumbledore near the end.

"Albus," Dad said, "Do you really think it's a good idea to trust him?"

"I assure you Remus, I have just talked with him, and I trust him. You have no reason to distrust him." Dumbledore said, and began outlining the plan to get Harry. Apparently they had realized his relatives weren't too fond of wizards and had lured them away for tomorrow evening with the promise of an Award for suburban lawn care. A group called the Advance Guard would apparate to his relatives' house, and they would fly back on brooms using invisibility charms and Harry's invisibility cloak.

Once done, Dumbledore began again in a more official voice, "Alright, the members of the Advance Guard will be Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Hestia Jones, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, Sturgis Podmore, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks and Emmeline Vance."

Now, I was _really _confused, "Uh, Sir, if those are all the people in the Advance Guard, what do you need my help with."

A few people snickered, a couple other just left, but most were just watching to see what my reaction would be to what Dumbledore told me, "You will be following the Dursleys to make sure that they stay away until we have Harry removed from their house. You will be following them on broom and will keep them away."

Now I froze for a second, then smiled, "Alright, sounds easy enough."


	10. Dedication or Stupidity?

"Alright, sounds easy enough."

Those were the words that I had used to explain my mission, which everyone had seemed to agree with at the time. However, there were a few unforeseen complications that made keeping the Dursleys away from home quite difficult. The first and foremost being that they had no idea where the hall was where the supposed award ceremony was, and had gotten a phone number off a website. Ten minutes into their drive, they had decided to call the hall to get directions. Now, the Order was just arriving at the house, and would need at least fifteen, preferably twenty minutes to get Harry out.

Following on the broom in the dark became difficult as the Dursleys' car swerved angrily into a parking lot, they had obviously figured out that there was a problem. The car made a big circle in the parking lot to turned around and turned on their turn signal to go back towards home. I quickly considered my options, and decided on the hasty and incredibly dangerous route. I flew a few blocks ahead and took off the invisibility charm and left my broom in an alley way, and made my way to the road, with every intention of faking a crash.

Now, I have at times picked bad moments to be clumsy, and unfortunately, this was one of those times. I hadn't seen how uneven the sidewalk was, and tripped right in front of the Dursleys' car. I heard the brakes screech, and felt rubber graze my arm that had slipped on the pavement when I tried to brace myself from the fall. Without moving I looked around the street, it was deserted other that the one car, and there was a street lamp on the far end of the road. It was by the light of that street lamp that I could see blood glistening on my left arm, and my wrist bent at an angle that couldn't be good.

"Did we hit him?" I heard a female voice say loudly, but I could tell her voice was just loud.

"Don't know," A man answered and three car doors opened, "Dudley, stay in the car," The three doors closed, and I could hear two sets of footsteps walk over to me, one with the distinct sound of heels.

A horse-faced woman I remembered from my godfather's pictures kneeled down carefully in her dress, avoiding the blood carefully, and looked me in the face. She seemed a little relieved that my eyes were open, "Are you alright?"

"I think my wrist's broken," I said, there was no hiding that fact, and began trying to lift myself up with my right arm and the couple, Petunia and Vernon, began to help me into a sitting position without getting blood on their fancy clothes. It had been another three minutes, I had to get them to care enough to keep them busy for at least another twelve minutes.

"How did you get in the street?" Petunia asked, in that curious neighborly way that Harry had always told me that she used.

"Tripped," I admitted truthfully, "I'm a bit clumsy at times."

"Obviously," Vernon said in a gruff voice, "Where were you off to in such a hurry?"

"My Uncle's." Lying was coming far too easily for me these days, but a plan was forming in my head, and I was going to go with it, "Which is probably even a better idea now, he's a doctor."

Petunia gave an interested look, "What's your name?"

"Theodore Hersley." There went the easy lying again.

"Well, where does your Uncle live?" Vernon said with a curious look, "The least we can do is give you a ride."

I was glad that by saying my fictional Uncle was a doctor I had gotten me out of a hospital visit. I thought about a street away from privet drive and Grimauld, "If you could drop me off at Helmsbury Road, I could get to his house easily. He's a little weary of strangers." Helmsbury was three blocks from grimauld, and I quickly thought of a way to get the broom with me, "I think I saw an old jacket in that alley, would you mind if I got it to wrap around my arm. I'd hate to get blood all over your car."

They Dursleys were only too eager to agree to that.

I shrunk to broom, putting it quickly in my pocket, and actually did find a ratty old jacket in the dumpster, and wrapped it around my bleeding arm. I was surprised that it didn't hurt that much, well, not now anyway. I returned to the street where they held the car door open for me, and I was helped to buckle the seatbelt next to Dudley, who was just as big as Harry had said he was. It had been eleven minutes, and it was at least a fifteen minute drive to Helmsbury Road. The Advance Guard could even beat me to Grimauld.

I was apologized to too many times during the ride to Helmsbury to count, and Vernon seemed to be overly cautious about scanning the road, taking twenty-four minutes to reach Helmsbury by my watch. That meant that the Advance Guard had arrived thirty-five minutes before, and it was a fourteen minute flight from Little Whinging to Grimauld, so they were probably just arriving. I got out of the car and thanked the Dursleys, who once again apologized, and I wished them a good night and began my walk to head quarters. And when the cool night air made it to my injury, the pain finally came, and it hurt like hell.

When I finally got to Grimauld Place, I was first asked what took so long by Stugis, who was the closest to the door. Then he saw the bloody jacket and fetched Severus Snape (who I had earlier found out was one of the three medics in the Order, Molly and Kingsley were both deep in the discussion in the dining room). Snape looked at my arm and pulled me into a bathroom on the first floor and began unwrapping the jacket from my arm, asking no questions of how I got it. He cast a diagnostic spell on it, and then told me to clean the blood off so he could get a proper look. He ignored the yelling we heard a few minutes later from the dining room and I followed suit. He had pulled several potions from the cabinet, one being a painkiller, one being a salve that helped heal cuts, and the last two I didn't recognize. We were soon joined by some curious faces, Dumbledore, Remus, Tonks and Moody.

"Drink these three," Severus told me, and I complied as he began rubbing the salve on my wrist, then wrapped it with a think gauze to help it set correctly.

"How did you get those?" Tonks asked looking at the cuts on my palms and covering my left arm, the others were obviously curious as well.

"The Dursleys figured out that the letter was a fake a lot earlier than expected," I said trying to smile, but I flinched when Severus tugged a little to roughly when wrapping, "I had to stop them somehow, and faking a crash seemed like a good idea at the time."

"That doesn't look fake, boy," Moody said critically.

I couldn't help but smile, "I tripped and was lucky enough to only hurt my wrist."

"You had the bones in your wrist shattered." Severus said dryly.

Eyebrows were raised at how nonchalant I was acting over the injury, Remus seemed to be having trouble with my behavior, "And you're okay with that?"

I shrugged, "It doesn't hurt that much, besides, Harry got here safe, didn't he?"

Albus smiled as Severus finished up with my wrist, "See Remus, Andy is perfectly dedicated to our cause. I know he may be… overly knowledgeable, but we have nothing to fear from him. I promise."

Remus looked me in the eyes, "Anyone who did what you did is either really dedicated to their cause, or really stupid. And from what I've seen it's the former, I guess I can at least give you a chance."


	11. Questions with Remus

My wrist took a few days to heal properly, and during that time, Tonks was continually asking me if she could help me, which I declined every time. If it had been my right wrist instead of my left, my answer would have been different. Few people seemed to know about how I had gotten hurt, seemingly only the five that I had told, but Remus and Moody's attitudes towards me had changed significantly. Moody was simply not glaring at me anymore, which I was fine with. Remus however was treating me with a lot more respect, such as not glaring at me, watching my every move or telling everyone I should be obliviated and sent back to America (I wasn't supposed to have heard that particular comment).

Now, it was on the third day that I finally met Harry. That was a bit of a shock, especially since in that time, I was taller than him and he seemed nothing like the Harry I knew. Of course, one changes plenty when your godfather, mentor, teacher, and the parents of your godson die, along with so many others, none of which had died yet.

He looked a little tired as he sat next to me, me being one of the few up at this hour, but he gave a smile, "Morning. Sorry, I think I forgot your name."

"No you didn't, we haven't met yet," I said turning to shake his hand, a part of me glad that he didn't closely resemble his older self, "My name's Andy."

"Harry Potter, but I'm sure you already knew that." He gave a sad look and then he gave me a stern look, "Wait, Andy Rutherford? The reporter?"

"Yeah, don't worry though, I'm not here to do any articles about you." I assured him, but he looked skeptical.

"He's telling the truth, he just wants to do a piece on the war, cub." Remus was standing in the doorway, "He's proven that he can be trusted." Dad's eyes strayed towards my bandaged wrist."

Harry just stared for a minute, "How did you get that?"

"I tripped, I'm a bit clumsy." I said, it was the truth, but a censored version that got him to relax. I knew from Harry's story that he hated it most when people got hurt on his behalf.

"Andy, could I have a word with you?" Remus asked, and like I was really going to object to talking one-on-one with my dad. I said goodbye to Harry and followed Remus to what I suspect was a sitting room, but a small one. Remus sat on the chair in the room, and I sat across a small coffee table on a love seat. It was quiet for a full minute.

"You wanted to talk to me?" I asked, not even sure if he was aware I was in the room with him because I had a faraway look in his eyes that he snapped out of when I spoke.

"Well, yes," Remus sighed, "You aren't with the press, I've figured that much out. What I don't know is why you're here in the first place."

"Dumbledore and I have talked about this, he knows my true intentions, and has allowed me to stay." I said, and he nodded.

"Dumbledore has talked to me as well, he wanted me to offer to answer some questions for you today." He said, "So how about we ask questions back and forth for a while?"

I hesitated, "Alright, but there are some things I'm not allowed to tell you, and you have to be prepared for that."

Remus nodded, "I'll start, why did you lie to Harry about how you got hurt?"

"Like he needs the guilt of knowing that I through myself in front of his relatives' car so he could get to headquarters safely." I answered and came up with my first question, "How long have you been a werewolf, and how did it happen?"

He faltered a little, "I was six, my father had stopped Fenrir Greyback from attacking another kid in town the previous full moon, and I was kidnapped by Fenrir's pack four days before the full moon and was returned the morning after the full moon to my parents. It was Greyback's form of revenge." He answered truthfully, "What's your real name?"

"It's not Andy Rutherford, but I can't tell you what it is. Sorry." He said, and Remus motioned him to ask another question, "What do you hate the most about your transformations on the full moon?"

"The way everyone figures out I'm a werewolf and I end up having to relocate before people really start figuring me out because they'll hate me." Remus didn't like that question very much, "Do you hate werewolves or any other human like creatures?"

"No, I have a good friend that's part veela, a buddy of mine was turned into a vampire last year and we're still friends even though he doesn't trust himself around humans yet, and I have an odd… I guess you'd call it an admiration… for werewolves. I couldn't imagine changing into a different species once a month, and I admire the strength it takes to endure the curse." I answered, figuring that the truth was the best, "Was Defense Against the Dark Arts the class you would have taught if you could pick any class?"

No, DADA was always one of my least favorite classes in school. There was a big werewolf scare in the seventies, so every year the teacher would tell us all how ghastly and terrible werewolves were. That and I was never a big fan of dueling, I only practice because I want to fight in the war. I would have liked to teach History of Magic, and taught about more history than the two-hundred and forty-three goblin wars." Remus said, and it made sense because of how Remus was always described reading, "Are you really seventeen?"

I shook my head, "No, I'm just about to turn sixteen." I admitted and Remus didn't look all that surprised, "Why did you join the war in the first place?"

Remus thought for a minute, "I guess it was because I was tired of pureblood prejudice in the beginning. Every time a group of muggles or muggleborns was killed at the beginning of the first war I saw no difference between that and werewolf hunting. And then Voldemort started going after my friends and I couldn't stand having the few people who cared about me dying. At that point, I decided that I needed to help bring down Voldemort at any cost." He then gave me a look that reminded me vaguely of when he was suspicious of me, "What are your intentions with Tonks?"

I froze, momentarily unable to speak or think. After a minute I asked, "Sorry, what was that?"

"Tonks, are you in love with her?" I was having a hard time placing the emotion, but it was somewhere between curiosity and… sadness?

I realized what he asked and had to stop myself from gagging at the thought of loving my mother like _that_, "No, of course not. What makes you think that I would?"

"You're always staring at her with an odd expression on your face. I couldn't blame you if you liked her, I mean, it would keep her from loving me and-"

"I'm not in love with her, I've just heard a lot of stories about several members of the Order, and the ones about her have me curious, I swear, it's nothing more than that." I said, and then added, "Besides, I don't think there's anything wrong with her loving you."

A knock on the door ended the conversation, and Remus was sent on a mission leaving me to my own devices.


	12. Motherly Advice Sort of

The day of Harry's trial had everyone a bit nervous, particularly Sirius who had now convinced himself that Harry was going to Azkaban. Remus had gone to convince him otherwise, which appeared to have yeilded little success. The children were busying themselves to keep their minds off things by cleaning out one of the rooms on the second floor. Molly had been cooking to keep her from having the time or energy to worry. Most of the Order had just picked a place to perch themselves as they waited for the trial to be over. I had picked the top of the staircase to watch everyone, seeing as I wasn't overly worried because I knew what the ruling would be.

"What're you doing?" Tonks said quietly as she sat next to me.

I shrugged, "People watching, I guess."

"You seem to know everyone here, it's almost like you've met them before." Tonks noted, "Remus told me you aren't a reporter, he also told me the two of you had a bit of a conversation a couple days ago. Would you be interested in making a similar deal with me, because I really want to know more about you."

"Sounds like a deal to me," I said, and she stood up, and I followed suit. She led me to a room that had been cleaned out a few days before and we each pulled up a chair so that we were facing each other. I gave her a small smile, "Ladies first."

"Do you actually know all of us here?" She asked.

"Well, not really. I have friends that used to be quite close to most of you. That's the only way I know everyone here." I answered trying not to say anything that would give away my secret, "Did you always want to be an auror?"

She laughed, "Oh, Merlin no, but don't tell my mom, she'd kill me. She wanted me to be an auror and eventually I grew used to be called one. The only thing I ever really considered being was an auror, though if my mom hadn't pushed me, I may have gone into a career dealing with herbology. Dad was a little more open to the idea, but mom wanted me to go into a career that mattered." Tonks explained, with a soft, but sad smile on her face, but she shook it off, "What was, or I guess it would be is since you're only fifteen. What is your favorite subject in school?"

"Charms, it's one of the few subjects that comes naturally to me." I answered.

"Really? I thought it would be 'jumping in front of cars 101'." She answered with a slight smirk.

"Nope, that class was full, too many Gryffindors," I said, making her smile, "When you were in school, how many times a week would you change your appearance?"

That was obviously not what she expected, "Usually two or three times a week, it took forever to decide on a look I liked enough to have on a regular basis. They used to call me the girl with a thousand faces." She answered as she started to grin, "What school did you actually go to?"

"Hogwarts, and before you ask, I was a Hufflepuff." I admitted, figuring it was stupid to try to say I was from a different school.

"Really? I was too." Tonks commented, "You don't seem much like you were a Hufflepuff."

"My guardian thought I was going to be in Gryffindor." I supplied.

"Yeah, I expected Gryffindor too. In truth, I think Hufflepuff is better, no one expects much from us. Ravenclaws are expected to be geniuses, Slytherins are expected to be dark wizards, Gryffindors are supposed to be the heroes of the world. We're allowed to be whatever the hell we want and surprise the world. I thin that's more fun." She said in a proud voice, "Now, I believe it's your turn to ask a question."

I thought for a second, "Why did you join the Order?"

"Many reasons, mainly because I want to clear the family name and stop my aunts from killing us all. Also, my cousin Sirius is part of the Order, as well as Moody, who's my mentor. And well… Remus I guess." Tonks blushed a little, "Don't tell him, alright."

"My lips are sealed." I assured her, knowing my existence depended on it.

"Why aren't you at school right now?" She asked.

_Because I haven't even been born, _is what I wanted to say, but I actually said, "It's complicated." she nodded in understanding, "If you could go back in time, would you go through auror training again?"

Tonks frowned, "Probably not, I hated it, but was too proud to ever back out. And I hate killing, but it's necessary in war. I want to help in the war, protect those I love… but it was never really who I wanted to be. Mom got be excited for it, and now it seems like it's too late to get out." She was quick to change subjects, "Now what career are you thinking of going into?"

I froze with my mouth open, and closed it quickly and looked to the floor, unable to bring myself to say _auror._ I had been so sure I wanted to be an auror my whole life, and now it seemed wrong. I sighed, "I don't know anymore."

"Take my advice, do what feels right, not what's expected of you. You'll be a lot happier." Tonks told me, an oddly motherly statement from the woman who didn't even know I was her kid.

"You've been really honest with me, why is that?" I asked her.

"I have no bloody idea, it just feels natural to say everything, even if I don't really want to share some information. It feels like you're supposed to know this." She said with an odd look on her face, "So, not that I want to imply that I'm interested, but do you have a girlfriend?"

"Not anymore, she broke up with me to be with some other guy." I replied, wondering why they were so interested in my love life.

"Then you probably deserve better than her." Tonks replied.

"Why are you so interested?"

"You seem lonely, lost and lonely. It has to be because you broke up with your girlfriend-"

"She broke up with me, started snogging another guy in front of me." I corrected, not even sure why I said it.

Tonks just smiled, "You just got out of a relationship, and you no longer know what your life goal is. That explains a lot."

I looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. I was saved by Harry arriving and we made our way downstairs to see that he had won the trial.

-

Walking to the room I was staying in that night, I heard the familiar voices of my parents in a locked drawing room, so I listened.

"He said Hogwarts," Tonks assured Remus.

"He's fifteen, that means either a fifth or sixth year, I would have had to teach him when I was there." Remus said, frustrated.

"I think he's telling the truth," Tonks said softly.

"I think I would have remembered him."

"Well, he might not be at Hogwarts _now._ Time travel is possible." Tonks said, and I pulled away from the door. They suspected me. I thought I was doomed now.


	13. The Last Straw

Now, things got complicated after that. I was nervous all the time, wondering if my parents would realize that I was theirs. Not that I avoided talking with them, but it was definitely stressful for me. I joined them in seeing Harry and the other kids off, and stared blankly at Harry hugging Sirius as he was about to get on the train. He had no idea that in nine months Sirius would be dead and he would know about the prophecy. I pushed the thought from my head, I didn't need to think about that now.

"You three come with me," Moody said after the train left the station, indicating me and my parents, "There was word of a small death eater attack fifteen miles away, Dumbledore wants us to investigate."

I was a little shocked, after almost a month of being with the Order I was going on my first mission, and with my parents, no less. We followed Moody into the alley behind the train station as he dug out a portkey, an old stained shoe that must have had a spell to get rid of the smell. The portkey activated once we were all holding the shoe and I felt the familiar, yet unwelcome, pull of a portkey.

I nearly choked when I saw our new surroundings, a small house in a rather isolated area of the country that looked fine enough. However, I could have done without the three bodies sprawled unnaturally on the floor with glazed over eyes. An older couple and their son that was maybe ten years old. The others looked like they had grown used to the sight, though they were by no means unaffected by the gruesome.

Suddenly, the air was filled with loud pops that there was no doubt that it was the sound of death eaters apparating around us. All of us had our wands drawn in less than a second and were back to back in the best defensive position we could take from the middle of a living room. The glass windows shattered and the fight began, and I don't remember much of it. All I remember is watching death eaters fall lifelessly by the other's hands, and seeing a black cloak fall to the ground after I hit someone with a spell.

And that was it. They pulled out with as little warning as they arrived with. Except for seven men lying on the ground, one at my feet, all dead. Now, while I had been seriously reconsidering being an auror, this was the last straw. I couldn't believe I'd killed one person, but doing this as a career? I'd kill myself.

"Looks like we were underestimated." I heard Moody say.

"Yeah- wait, Andy, are you alright?" Remus asked, "You're shaking?"

"I've never killed before." I said, and it was then I noticed I was shaking.

"Oh hell, he's bleeding too. Let's get him outside to take care of this." Mom said and more or less dragged me out of the house as Moody took care of calling other aurors to clean up the house.

Meanwhile, mom was tending to a deep cut I didn't even know I had that covered my shoulder. It didn't even hurt all that much, and at the time I was a lot more concerned about having killed a man. I just wanted to go home to a peaceful life at school. Mom poked my arm and suddenly I felt the pain and winced. Dad stuffed something into my hand, and I looked down to see it was chocolate. I looked up at him in confusion.

"Eat it, it has a pain reliever and calming drought in it. That's why I eat so much around the full moon." He explained, "Chocolate is the only thing that hides the taste."

"Thanks," I said, and began eating slowly as my arm was wrapped. Mom was done quickly and assured me no one thought less of me for freaking out over my first kill. She was interrupted by something on my chest that was seemingly fascinating.

"Frost's pendant is glowing…" She said softly, "That means you have to leave, doesn't it?"

Sure enough, it was glowing a light blue, and I felt my shoulders drop in disappointment, "I guess so."

"It was nice seeing you, will we ever see you again?" Dad asked, and I nearly broke out in tears.

"Yeah, but you won't know it." I said, "I'll miss you two."

Mom hugged me, as in a I-can't-breathe-let-me-go hug. When she let go, she was grinning, but had tears in her eyes, "I'll miss you too, even if you never did tell us your name."

"And I don't think I'll ever forget you, even though I did say some terrible things about you." Dad said, and we shook hands.

I took a step back and waved. Without fully understanding my own actions, I touched the pendant around my neck and promptly passed out.


	14. Reality Improves

I woke to find myself in the Hospital Wing, which left me fairly confused. My first and foremost question was when I was, my time or still in 1995 because something went horribly wrong and I was sent here. Either way, I wasn't quite pleased. While I didn't want the magic in the pendant to have malfunctioned, I wasn't quite ready to say good bye to my parents.

"Ah, you're awake Lupin." Madam Pomfrey said, walking in from her office with that look that told you she had disapproved of whatever you had done to get in the Hospital Wing, "You've been out for quite a while."

"What day is it?" I asked.

"November sixteenth," She answered promptly.

"2012?" I asked, just to make sure, and she nodded, though she had an odd look on her face.

"You were out for three days, and were found passed out, on the brink of starvation and over tired. What did you think you were doing?" Pomfrey questioned as I sat up in the stiff hospital bed.

I was suddenly hit with how bad my life had been when I left. And with what I had been doing… I may as well have jumped off of the astronomy tower. That seemed like ages ago, after all I had spent three or four weeks in the nineties, how was I supposed to have a realistic sense of time. I sighed, "I don't even think I knew."

"Should I be contacting Harry?" She asked, and one look in her eyes made it clear she thought I was suicidal.

"No," I shook my head, "You won't see me in here again."

"If you plan on being an Auror, I wouldn't be so sure about that." She said as I began standing up, noticing a change of clothes on the edge of the bed, folded neatly with a small note lying on top. _Thought you might need these. We need to talk. - Jenna Wood_

I smiled, changing into my clothes and stuffing Jenna's not in my pocket. Figures she would think to do something like that. I would talk to her, but I had things to do first. Checking that classes were over I went down to Professor Pucey's office, and to say the least he was shocked. I think he expected me to go off on him again, but I wasn't planning on it.

"Sorry about class last week," I said softly, "Werewolves has always been a touchy subject for me, as you can imagine. I just wanted to let you know I didn't mean any personal offense last week."

One of his eye brows rose, "So, you didn't mean to insult me by calling me a narrow minded priss that had no idea what I was trying to teach, though I remember using some quite colorful language."

"I'm not saying that I wasn't right on a few points, such as you not knowing a whole lot about the nature of werewolves, but I can think of a thousand ways I could have done so that wouldn't have been insulting, and I should have used one of those." I admitted.

He looked thoughtful, "Thanks for your apology, I've been yelled at like that before without hearing a word of remorse. Let's make those for detentions just one."

"Thank you, sir," I said, and after getting the homework due the next day, I headed to Flitwick's classroom, which was going to a more intensive talk, but one that was far more necessary. I knocked on his office door, and waited to be called in, which was only a few seconds.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin, I was wondering when you'd be better. You gave us all a scare." Flitwick pointed to a chair by his desk, and I sat as he continued, "Now I've been wanting to talk to you. I know how set you were on joining the Protection Program, and I've worked something out with your teachers that will allow you to join, where your grade will be based solely on performance in class and performance in the program, what do you say?"

I bit my lip, he wasn't going to like my answer, "I'm going to have to decline."

Flitwick frowned, "What? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm positive." I told him, "I never really wanted to be an auror myself, it's just been expected of me. Someone finally told me that, and I realized it was true. Besides, I don't think I can handle a career where I would have to kill."

It was quiet for a minute before Flitwick spoke, "I'm glad you realized that now instead of two years down the road. May I ask if you had a career in mind?"

"I actually do," I bit my lip again and could almost feel my hair change to the bright green it turned when I got nervous (it felt good to be able to do that again), "I remember you saying you were looking for an apprentice to take over in a few years. I know I'd need to work on my grades, but I think I would like to be your apprentice, if you'd let me."

Flitwick was shocked, but quickly gained a thoughtful expression, "I'd never thought of you as a candidate, but you do have top marks in the class every year. Hm, well, how about this, I'll take you on as an apprentice if you can get all your grades up to passing by Winter break."

"Sounds like a deal." I said, and after a another minute I was on my way, though this time I wasn't sure what exactly what I was doing or what my exact destination was. I found myself out in one of the warmer November days down by the lake headed towards a small figure sitting by the lake. It didn't take long to figure out who it was, Jenna Wood, easily recognized by the dirty blonde she had dyed her hair two Summers back because she had always hated the mud brown color she was born with. She didn't even notice me until I sat down next to her.

"Teddy…" She said softly, and I could tell she had been crying, but she straitened up, "What the hell did you think you were doing, I was worried sick."

"You've been crying," I was shocked by that, Jenna reminded most people of her dad in the fact that she was a strong person and had never been seen crying before.

"Yeah, well…" She frowned and looked away, "When I heard you had been found near death… I didn't even go to my morning classes the morning you were found…"

I brushed her hair from her face and she looked back at me looking confused. I sighed, "I'm an idiot aren't I. Why didn't you say you liked me?"

"What was the point? All you're going to do is become an auror, so I've been trying not to care that you're willfully aiming to put yourself in danger." She said quietly, "I'm guessing you took the spot in the program that Flitwick made for you."

"I declined." I told her.

"What?" She turned fully so she was now facing me, "Why go back on your dream now?"

"Because I realized it wasn't my dream. I found out my mom didn't really want to be an auror, my dad was only in the war to exact a vengeance on those who were unjust, and I don't want to spend my life killing." Jenna didn't say a word, so I continued, "You were right, I didn't know who they are. That's why I'm going to be Flitwick's apprentice."

"You are?" Jenna seemed shocked, so I just nodded, "That's… more like the Teddy I know and love."

"Really?" I said, changing my hair to match the color her hair when we had first met.

She rolled her eyes, and kissed me… on the cheek, but she kissed me. She laughed at my expression, and then pointed to my hair, "Well, that's an interesting color."

My hair was like a fluorescent orange, and I quickly changed it to a bright blue, "Better?"

"Much," she said, and smiled, "So where did you come up with that little revelation about your parents?"

I smiled, "A dream, just a dream."

"Great, my boyfriend's having epiphany dreams." Jenna said getting up and starting towards the castle.

I, however, froze, "Boyfriend?"

"Hey, hurry up!" She called, and I shrugged and ran up to catch up with her.

The next day Victoire found out that me and Jenna were going out, she was pissed. In fact, my good friend Marcus (the recent vampire that had returned while I was in 1995) had to threaten to kill her if she tried to fulfill her threats, and since he had been a vampire less than two years, he wouldn't be responsible for it. That shut her up.

Three years later, I started teaching as the charms teacher and Flitwick was able to retire.

And that New Years Eve, I proposed to Jenna. We got married on July 3, 2016. Our first, and probably only kid was born two years later: Sophia Nym Lupin.


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue:

Harry had been watching little Sophia, now seven years old looking through one of his old photo albums as Teddy had been doing some grading over Christmas break. The girl was beautiful, deep amber eyes that were identical to Remus' and hair that changed color every few days having inherited being a metamorphmagus from her dad. In fact he watched as the girl's hair turned a shade of red as he saw her flip to a page with all of the Weasleys.

"Cute, isn't it?" Teddy asked, nearly making Harry jump. Nearly.

"Yeah, she's beautiful." Harry said.

"I have an odd question," Teddy asked and Harry motioned for him to go ahead and ask, "Do you remember a man named Andy Rutherford?"

A spark of recollection flickered, "Yeah, He was at Grimmauld place for about a month during the second war. I only talked to him once myself. Odd, but a brave man. If I remember correctly, your parents spent the most times with him. It's rumored he threw himself in front of a car for the sake of the Order."

Teddy smiled as if remembering something humorous, "Do you remember my parents saying anything about him?"

"Vaguely," Harry said closing his eyes, "When I saw them after you were born they mentioned him, said that they hoped that their son would grow up to be as brave and polite as he was."

Teddy's smile grew and he held back a laugh, "Well, I guess they got their wish."

Harry frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I haven't told anyone about this for over ten years, I think it's safe for you to know. You are like a father to me, you deserve to know," Teddy handed him a small book, only about fifty pages long written in Teddy's neat hand writing, "I think that will answer a lot."

Harry opened the book and read the first page as Teddy gathered up little Sophie to take her home, and he knew he'd finished the first page when he heard his adoptive father laugh. He looked over see what Harry thought, and all the man said was, "You're Andy aren't you? That's why you changed so much fifth year."

Teddy's smile was all Harry needed to know he was right, "Read and find out."

-

(A/N: wow, it's over. Okay, to clear things up, the point of the story was NOT for Teddy to become attached to his parents, just get enough of an idea as to who they were to know he was heading in the right direction. Besides, a stronger relationship for much longer could have been traumatic. So review, flame, whatever. I want to know what you thought about this, since I've never written in this style before. Let me know!)


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